Going Out On Top
by Me
Summary: Before settling down mostly, Joey appears on the Tonight Show. Many flashbacks to events from Book Universe, including a few alternatives to episodes, like Comet being born on Steph’s bed.


This is done as a Book Universe story, though Joey likely makes Jay Leno in the same way in both.

The Book Universe began with that new office in the 4th bedroom. An early fall wedding is implied because of one book placement, and because the twins being born several months earlier (summer like Michelle in books.) And, with Michelle in a different class, it's someone different she greets her first day in Kindergarten…and we see how the class clown from books may have reacted. Plus, where Minnie goes if Jesse's in the attic.

So, this is my take on a number of book universe situations, though Joey meeting and marrying the lady in question and the one where Steph meets Ozzie Smith happen in both. Paul Austin has let me use his character of Samantha from the Sam Series for this, too.

Going Out On Top

"Oh boy! Really?! All right!" After she hung up, Stephanie Tanner, 25, quickly put down the phone in her attic bachelorette pad, and raced to that of her sister Michelle, 20. "Guess what; Joey's going to be on Jay Leno again!"

She was so excitable, just like her late mother, Pam. Pam had died in an auto accident when Stephanie was 5, and Michelle was a baby. Their older sister, D.J., was 10 back then. She was living with her husband Steve.

Stephanie spotted their Dad, Danny Tanner, in his office. He, too, was thrilled. "Joey probably still calls this a den," Stephanie joked.

Joey Gladstone had moved in to help Danny raise his girls; he was Danny's best friend from school. So, too, had Jesse Katsopolis, Danny's brother-in-law. Both were now married and out of the house. Joey, a professional comedian, had only done so a few years ago, while Jesse had done so around a decade ago.

Jesse and Danny's co-host, Becky, had twin boys, Nicky and Alex, and had adopted two more. Joey had two from his wife's previous marriage – she was a widow – and a child of their own.

"Yeah, he does like to call it that. I guess you girls just called it whatever you wanted at times." Danny thought for a second. "I wonder if he's going to retire; he's got his radio show and other stuff, too."

"You mean like Uncle Jesse did from touring with a band?" Michelle wasn't sure, but it seemed like comedy was even more a part of Joey than music had been for Jesse.

"That's true. He's always liked making you girls laugh." He chuckled. "And, he's always been here for us, even when my office, or den, or whatever was just going in."

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The year was 1984. Danny had just gotten a large bonus for working down in Los Angeles for his station at the Summer Olympics. He'd had a choice to make; put an office in the fourth bedroom, or put it in savings. He'd chosen the office. He could work at home more in preparing for broadcasts. A third child could share the nursery with Stephanie at first, and they could move Steph into D.J.'s room for a year or two when needed. Pam had made cute pink bunnies for Steph's room, but if it was a girl, they could stay around for a while longer, even if Steph moved into D.J.'s room. If a boy, well, he would dislike them starting at about age two.

The girls were thrilled the house growing a room, as D.J. called it. And, with no baby on the way yet, they didn't think about being potential roommates. When Michelle came along, it would be much easier for them to get closer, with pam helping, and stay closer. And, for D.J. to eventually dedicate herself to being a mom-like figure.

Once it was finished, Danny and Pam invited Joey over. The room was immaculate. There was a couch in it, a desk with many papers in and around it, all neatly filed, a nice office chair, a couple other chairs, and even a small TV with a VCR.

"You know," Joey told them, "this is a great den. You don't have a fish mounted up there, though," he said, pointing to the wall. He immediately flopped onto the couch and stretched out. "Ah, this is the life."

As Stephanie climbed on top of Joey, Danny corrected him. "Joey, this happens to be the room that will allow me to spend more time at home with my darling children. Comedians can have dens. Professional sportscasters have offices or studies."

"If you want to call it that, that's fine with me…hey." Stephanie accidentally stuck her finger up Joey's nose. He sat up, held her finger in front of her, and emphasized, "Remember, Stephanie. You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." Pam was laughing too hard at my line to correct Stephanie immediately for being a little too rough.

"I sowwy." Joey hugged her when she apologized.

"The kids love you, man," Danny remarked. "I sure hope your comedy turns out well. Hey, feel free to put something about that in the act. Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?" he said, gazing lovingly at the toddler.

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Jesse was elated to hear of Joey's success. "It's a dream come true; man, it's just like when I got that record deal." He smiled dreamily on the other end of the line. "Of course, I got the Smash Club, along with the radio show. "I don't know, Joey might do some low level stuff, I doubt he'll retire from it completely.

Stephanie admitted that that was true. "Michelle said comedy is such a huge part of his life, but who knows. He slowed down some for a few years after Star Search, but kept doing it."

"That sounds more likely to me, Steph," Jesse said. "I don't know if you remember, but every little thing's seemed to be comedy with him at times. I remember this one time, summer of 1989, and you were at a ball game with your dad…

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Joey and Jesse were up after 11 PM on a warm, summer night ironing out one of the ads they were doing for work. "Okay, Joseph," Jesse remarked, "D.J. may have revoked your fairy tale license, but at least now, we have ourselves a commercial."

Joey thought of the girls they were helping to raise, D.J., 12, Stephanie, 7 and Michelle, two and a half. "You're sure D.J. was just teasing about that?"

Jesse chuckled as he considered his partner's childishness, which annoyed him at times. "Come on, man, of course she was. You don't get a license to tell fairy tales."

"Okay, I just wondered. I mean, that was a pretty silly mistake I made."

"Yeah, you told Michelle some ballplayer that's not in the Hall of Fame yet was being treated like an ugly princess, but someday he'd grow into a beautiful swan." Jesse shook his head; even "ugly stepsister" would have meant mixing two fairy tales, but he'd mixed three! "That metaphor mix is worse than when that boy broke up with D.J. and you said we shoulda told her Hansel and Gretel." They all made the mistake of trying to tell D.J. the story of the Ugly Duckling, which Jesse's girlfriend, Becky scolded should only ever be told about some other kid.

"Hey, I know we've been here two years, but I was never around girls. I still get fairy tales mixed up …hey, guys," he said as Danny and Stephanie walked in the door.

Stephanie had used up enough energy she'd likely collapse on her bed as soon as she got there, but for now, the young schoolgirl didn't look tired at all. She seemed just like normal, ready to talk all day – or night, in this case.

"How was the game?" Jesse and Joey asked. Danny, a former sportscaster who had told Stephanie a number of the nuances of the game, was about to say it was great, but Stephanie stole the show.

"You should have seen it; it was like watching ballet out there. There was this one play where one of our guys hit a ball over second base. Now this is on grass, of course, not that artificial stuff that makes balls shoot through like a rocket, so the ball wasn't getting to him near as fast as it would have. Well, their shortstop dove to his left, and then the ball took a funny hop. So, he grabbed it with his bare hand, and while he was tumbling around he threw the guy out at first! Can you believe it? Then, another time…"

Danny lovingly squeezed her shoulder. "Sweetheart, I know you're excited, but other people need a chance to talk, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry Dad," she said sincerely. "Tell them about that basket catch."

"Ozzie Smith was amazing out there." Danny could ramble himself, but tried to limit himself this time, for the sake of teaching his very excitable daughter how to better control her own talking. He mentioned a couple things, while pondering what a great activity this was. There were times when Stephanie really needed some special father-daughter time. Danny had special father-daughter time with each of his girls, and this had been one of those times he could tell Stephanie needed some. He hugged and kissed Stephanie. "Go on up to bed, I'll be up to tuck you in in a couple minutes."

Stephanie was still thinking about one thing first. "I know it's probably going to be really late after the game. Can we go when the players get there tomorrow and get his autograph?" Stephanie said of her now favorite ballplayer.

"Now, Steph, you're going to have quite a long wait if you want to catch the players arriving. They usually get there a couple hours before the game. Are you sure you want to go that early tomorrow?"

"Dad, this is Ozzie Smith we're talking about."

"I'll take her, Danny; you can bring D.J. and Michelle later," Joey said.

Danny laughed. "It's no problem, Joey; you bring them. Besides, your favorites are all retired." Joey had loved the Tigers in the middle 1960s before moving out to San Francisco. "Your dad may not have given you much, but those couple years in Detroit left you with some great memories."

Joey spoke up, "But, Danny, they call the man the 'Wizard of Oz.' I want to show him my 'Wizard of Oz' routine and see what he thinks."

"Joey, they call him that because of his defensive prowess. Although I think his offense was good enough that year he should have won the MVP in 1987. Anyway, his first name is Ozzie, so it can be Oz like in the movie, or 'ahhhs' as in 'oooh and ahhhs.'"

They went on like that for a while. Finally, though Uncle Jesse didn't like sports, he said, "Look, the four of you go early, I'll bring Michelle for a couple innings. You two can take Steph and D.J.. A couple innings is about all Michelle will want, anyway."

Danny picked Stephanie up. Her eyelids had been getting heavy as he and Joey had talked. "Thanks, Jess. I know you don't enjoy it that much, but I'm sure we can get more seats together in the outfield. She'd probably enjoy it anywhere we sat, right, Steph? Steph?" She began snoring, with her head resting on Danny's shoulder. He looked lovingly at her and said, "That's the sound of a kid who's had one of those days she'll always treasure," he said quietly as he carried her up to bed.

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"Boy, do I ever remember that! We got there early, I got one thing autographed for each member of our family, and Joey did his 'Wizard of Oz' bit while the shortstop was signing." Stephanie laughed. "He really thought Joey was funny."

"Yeah, and crazy. But, you know, he was there to help your mom and dad get into his mom's place when they could afford the rent after your dad loaned him his last $800, soon after D.J. was born. And, he was there for us, too, helping Danny get that attic apartment I had at the start back up to snuff so Becky and I could move back in, after he and I quit our advertising jobs and started our own firm."

The Tanners and Katsopolis' took Joey and his family out to celebrate that evening. There, they shared more fun memories.

"You know what I remember, Joey," D.J. reported, "is how you helped after that family of dogs moved into Steph's and my bedroom."

Joey couldn't help but poke some fun at Jesse. "Just think, Jess, that could have been your bed. All it would have taken would be you on the second floor, and not the attic, so the dog could push the door open…"

"Come on, Joey, what are you talkin' about?"

"Well, we all know how dogs are attracted to powerful smells, like your hair care supplies."

Danny agreed. "I remember Steph was giving Minnie the grand tour, and they stopped in her room, and Steph just invited Minnie up on her bed. You and the girls hugged her and stuff, and she got comfortable, so all of a sudden, that's where she ran when she was ready to give birth.

"Yeah, and we all wound up in Michelle's room one night, there was so much yipping right before his owner came and got Comet. You probably don't remember that, huh, Michelle?" D.J. asked.

"No, but I remember when I used Joey's advice my first day of Kindergarten.

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Michelle walked up to a boy with light brown hair. "Hello, my name is Michelle Tanner," the five-year-old said to the boy. She was talking like Bullwinkle and holding her hands like antlers.

The boy looked at her, but said nothing. Inside, however, any butterflies about the first day of Kindergarten were vanquished. Here was a girl who spoke his language. "Hello," he said, repeating Michelle's tone and hand gesture, "my name is Jeff Farrington." He walked away grinning. He was going to like it here after all.

Michelle was a bit timid to call him to come back and talk to him. She'd wanted someone to talk to, not someone who would just return her greeting.

She wandered up and saw Stephanie, who comforted her and coaxed her back to her class, walking with her. "Hey, everyone," Stephanie said. She had everyone greet her like Jeff had, and asked if anyone else was looking for a friend who would "talk normal." As Stephanie looked around, she saw another girl who looked quite shy and reserved. "How about you, you look like you need a friend. What's your name?" she asked.

"Cassie Wilkins," the girl said.

"Well, Cassie, this is Michelle. Why don't the two of you sit and talk."

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Michelle smiled dreamily. "I met one of my two best friends thanks to Steph, but Joey deserves the credit for my first introduction to my fiance." She chided Stephanie that, "You were calling him that since Jeff and I were what, nine? Now you and I both have great guys we're engaged to."

"I did tend to tease a bit about that," Stephanie confessed. "You two make a great couple. Just like you and your wife, Joey."

"Yeah, it was a little rough when we first met," Joey remarked. "But, once the grieving was over, we really got close, huh?" he said warmly, turning to his wife Suzie.

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Suzie and Joey snuck away from Wendy's fourth birthday party in early October, 1996. They were having an incredible time together, and had been the last half year or so. Joey had blurted out "I love you" to her earlier that day, as they were preparing. Of course, he'd said it as Fred Flintstone.

Joey had been surprised himself. "This is amazing. I mean, we've known each other for over a year. And recently…well, I wanted to say it as Popeye, but you don't like the violence in those cartoons."

Suzie had giggled, hoping for a normal "I love you," but she accepted that with Joey, this might have to do for now. "Thanks, Joey. I appreciate it. And, while I'd like an 'I love you' in a normal way, I can wait. Because, you're really special to me, too."

Now, they were alone in the kitchen, while the kids played a game with her parents' help. Joey struggled. "I know I'd like to say it normally, what I want to say."

He breathed deeply. It was so hard to break out of the habit of being a kid all the time. That had gotten him through so much, from his way too demanding father to the loneliness of moving all the time to his comedy. Suzie was lucky she hadn't met his imaginary friend, a moose that played hockey.

He finally spoke. "Suzie, you know…it's so hard for me to say sometimes. I mean, it was always so easy with Danny's girls, but here…"

"Joey, I understand. The kids need a father, but they need one who's willing to take his time. You've done that."

"I'm glad you appreciate me," Joey said softly as their faces drew closer together. "Suzie…I just want what's best for you. And, I want what's best for the kids. I know it has to be rough." She nodded. "But, I really think we have something special. I really do love you." Joey didn't notice till later that he'd said it normally, and not in a cartoon voice. He was finally feeling comfortable not doing comedy all the time in relationships, though he still did some, of course. Their lips were very close.

"I love you, too." They kissed passionately for a moment, their first kiss.

"All right!" Justin declared. Joey chuckled as he glanced over at the ten-year-old.

Wendy stood beside him with starry eyes. "Does this mean you'll be our Daddy now?" She was infatuated with the notion that her mother had kissed a man. Justin, however, suddenly frowned.

"Excuse me." Joey walked over to them, and sat on the floor. Justin sat next to him, and Wendy naturally climbed into him lap, as she would if he was reading a story. "Guys, look…Wendy, this isn't a Disney movie, okay. I mean, who would I get to play me? Or your mom; nobody can top her. It won't happen that fast."

Justin seemed relieved.

"And, Justin, I know it's rough. You like seeing your mom and I in love, but you've got lots of emotions right now. The girls were the same way when Danny, that is, Michelle's dad, started dating. I want you to know, nobody can replace your dad. I wouldn't dare try. I know he was very special. But, your mom and he agreed they could see other people if one of them died, just like Michelle's parents before Pam died." Justin remembered hearing about her. "They didn't do that so one of them could be replaced. They did that so there could be more love spread around, so if someone was available, you could have a man of the house again. Okay?" He accepted what Joey said. "Good. I'm sure your mom's told you, but you're important, and it wouldn't be right for anyone to come into the family unless you're all comfortable. And, hey, you love me, right?"

"Of course. You're the best," Justin said as they all embraced.

Joey rose, and asked Suzie how he'd done.

"That was super; I couldn't have said it any better." She blushed a little shyly. "It's amazing you can say that and do all those cartoons, too."

"Well, it comes from my heart. That's what's important."

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Back in the present, Joey said, "Yes, it sure is wonderful to be part of a great family. Hey, it's really two great families."

"It sure has been, Joey," Danny said. "You and D.J. both encouraged me to get some counseling so I wouldn't force everyone to clean so much, for one thing, after Pam died. And, then the way you've helped Steph with Samantha."

Samantha agreed; she was a latchkey kid who Steph met in fifth grade when Samantha was in Kindergarten. She saw the Tanners as her real family, and felt most comfortable with Joey as a father figure. She was glad to be able to take a break from her time as a professional ballerina to visit, and to hear about this while here. "I'm glad you finally got the reward you deserve."

Joey concurred. He didn't bring it up, as it was when Samantha still went by Sam, but he remembered the bond they'd formed even in her first grade year, when they went to visit Becky's parents' in Nebraska. They'd sat next to each other on the ride home, and they'd discussed how one might do a cow voice for a cartoon; there had been so many other famous animals, but almost nobody had heard of a cartoon cow.

"So," Samantha said, showing the bluntness she'd learned from Michelle, "are you retiring?"

Joey and the others laughed. "Well, I organized your Sweet Sixteen, I've done all sorts of other things for you. I don't know. I'd slowed down a lot even before my first appearance, when I got on because Danny and Jesse kept sending tapes and stuff to Jay Leno, and then there were some crazy circumstances."

"Yeah, you got us to do a live remote for our radio show from a ski resort right when a big snowstorm was going to hit." Jesse shook his head.

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It was mid-December, 2000, and Jesse was frustrated. "You mean now we can't switch back; we've got to broadcast for hours from here till they get this dumb thing fixed back at the station?" Jesse shook his head. "What in the world were we thinking, coming here anyway?"

"Well, Jesse, I think I see the problem," joey said like a mechanic who was about to say he needed a new car. "I looked at last week's forecast by mistake."

"What?!" Jesse studied the paper that Joey had been looking at, and exclaimed, "you must be related to the guy that got the forecast wrong when the Minnow ran into that bad storm; we'll probably be stranded here for 15 years, too!"

"Oh, calm down, Jess, it won't be that bad. It's funny, really. It's sort of like that time Sylvester looked out the window as the family drove off, and said, 'Heh, they forgot to put out the cat.' Then he waited a second and shouted, 'Wait a minute; I'm the cat!'" Joey, of course, had done Sylvester's voice when saying this.

"You're a dodo, that's what you are. Look, just put on some music."

"Okay, I've got plenty of tapes here."

"Oh, great; if there's one thing I can listen to for hours to kill time, it's rock and roll," Jesse said nonchalantly. He later told himself that he should have known his comment meant impending doom.

"Oh, well if you think you like rock and roll, you'll love this; it's one of the best." Jesse leaned forward, expecting a good rock song, but instead heard chickens clucking the tune to "In the Mood." His eyes grew wide with disbelief.

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"I've got to hand it to you, you had a way of keeping me entertained. Annoyed, but entertained," Jesse remarked, holding up a finger. "We were out of there in a couple days, anyway. Although I still wonder if anyone older than ten enjoyed half the silly songs you played."

"Hey, if being caught in some silly snowstorm and doing really goofy stuff would have helped you achieve your goal, wouldn't you have been happy?"

"Not if that goofy stuff included reality TV," Samantha quipped at Joey's query to Jesse.

"Yeah, some of that's pretty lame, but it's fun to laugh at 'em, anyway," Jesse remarked.

"I'm just so glad you've been able to be a dad for me, too. Stephanie's my mother emotionally, but all the encouragement you gave really helped. From helping me with my first ballet recital to even letting me babysit my first time.

Joey recalled. "I think Steph was a lot more nervous than Suzie and I were about that."

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Samantha was 13, and Danny and the others kept urging Stephanie to give Samantha one of her babysitting jobs. Stephanie and her friends were seniors in high school, and had given most of them this hectic year to Michelle and her friends. She finally tried to give Samantha one of her babysitting jobs so she could take her mind off dancing a little bit; her schedule was getting rather crowded, too.

Of course, Stephanie had protected her from so much, the idea kept bugging her, even though she knew the girl so well.

Joey's wife was eight months' pregnant, and due in a couple weeks. Justin and Wendy were thrilled. They'd really accepted Joey as their new dad in a wonderful way. And, the whole family loved having Suzie, Justin, and Wendy in it.

Stephanie babysat for them a number of times. But, this time, Justin – who was a bit old for a sitter anyway at fourteen – was at a friend's, so it was just Wendy. She finally figured Samantha could handle this one alone.

Could Stephanie handle the fact she was doing it, though?

Joey and Suzie agreed that Samantha was ready to baby-sit a really well-behaved kid, where she didn't have much to do but keep her entertained. She wasn't ready to watch a toddler by herself yet, but Wendy was usually a breeze.

Stephanie dropped Samantha off as the couple was close to leaving for dinner. She and Samantha hugged, and then Stephanie just stood there, in the doorway, beaming as she gazed at Samantha. She breathed deeply and said, "I can't believe it yet."

"It's amazing, huh?" Suzie asked as she waddled toward the door.

"Yep, she's ready to watch a kid on her own." Joey beamed with pride at Samantha, then looked at Stephanie, clearly sensing some hesitation. He said he could tell Stephanie just wanted to keep her young for a while longer. "Are you ready for her to?"

"Huh? Oh, sure. I mean, I'm just thinking about the fact that she's like my little girl. I mean, I've really raised her, and now, here she is…ready to be on her own, in charge of someone else…" Samantha laughed as Stephanie ran up to her and hugged her again. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks."

"Wow, and she hasn't even gotten out the door yet," Wendy said. As the young schoolgirl observed Stephanie, she looked at Samantha. "In fact, will she get out the door?"

Samantha smiled and put an arm around Wendy. She remembered helping her as they both served as flower girls at Joey and Suzie's wedding, and doing so many other cool things. It had taken a while, but she'd grown to the point where she needed to be able to say confidently that she could handle something like an adult. Joey knew, from how much he'd kept acting like a kid – something that helped him with Samantha a lot – that adult responsibility was important to give. And, having someone like Wendy in the family gave her that chance.

"I'm sure she will," Samantha finally told Wendy. "Sometimes, it just takes her a few minutes. I guess she likes to stand there and reminisce."

"You know, Stephanie, maybe if we all go together, it'll help," Suzie suggested.

Stephanie liked that idea. Joey jokingly tried to squeeze out the door with Stephanie, and they were caught for a second before we got out. As they walked down the drive to their cars, Stephanie looked back to see Samantha and Wendy waving at the window. Samantha looked just about as proud as Joey had ever seen her.

The best part was, he was part of that, too.

Samantha and Wendy played a couple games, then had a snack while talking expectantly about the new arrival in her family. Samantha was in awe of the situation. Wendy knew not to take advantage of Samantha, who had a hard time ordering anyone around. It was a great situation for Samantha.

"Do you have a big family?" Wendy asked me.

She could tell the query made Samantha a little sad. She put an arm around Wendy and said simply, "Your dad and Stephanie and all of them are my family. At least, that's who I think of as family."

She looked strangely at her and asked, "Are you sad?"

"Oh…no, no, not really. It's just, well…" Samantha didn't know how to continue.

"I know," Wendy said sweetly, putting a hand on her back. She repeated things the way she'd always heard them when she felt sad. "Someone died, didn't they? Mom says it's okay to be sad. My birth dad died, too. Then Mom got married again. But, Mr. Joey never replaced Daddy. He's still in my heart, too."

They cuddled for a moment, and Samantha concurred. "That's right. It's like that, except… Stephanie's the only one I've known who's like a mother. She didn't have anyone to replace. But, I'm fine now, really," the sitter assured her.

They drifted on to other topics. Samantha realized that Wendy had taken that rather well, all things considered. Since she didn't have real memories of her biological father, who had died before she turned two, she could figure that Samantha wouldn't have memories at all of her parents. She figured they died when Samantha was a baby, instead of always neglecting her. She knew Michelle's mom had died when Michelle was a baby, after all.

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The day he was to perform, the entire group was down in Los Angeles for the taping. After a series of jokes with impressions – he'd done his "Wizard of Oz' bit the first time he was on, in 2001 – he walked over to sit next to Jay Leon. "Thanks, Jay."

"It's great to see you; any more added to that huge family of yours; last time you were here, before the show, that family was so big I thought you should have your own area code."

"Well, let's see, Jesse and Becky adopted another one, D.J. and Steve married, and the other girls I helped raise are engaged, but I guess that's about it. I'm sure it'll change soon, though. No more imaginary friends, either."

"We didn't talk about this last time; how many did you have then?"

"Well, I would say any fandom you like a lot, if you spend enough time writing for it, or reading it, they become like friends because you know all their ins and outs, all that stuff. So, when you feel lonely, like I did with my family moving so much, you not only have your hockey-playing moose…"

Jay laughed. "A moose that played hockey?"

Sure." Joey proceeded to hold just one hand, instead of two, up to his head and talk like Bullwinkle. "Only problem is, they break off real easy in those fights. But, that's okay, the same guy who does my dentures is making me a faake antler." The audience laughed. "I was going to to George Washington's dentist and get some wooden antlers, but I was afraid if I used wood, everyone would call me a blockhead."

"That's great. So, now, you said you imagine writers do this, too; do you think someone like Hamlet was Shakespeare's…"

"No, I don't think you can do it as much with plays unless you have a series. I think someone like Agatha Christie, who Steph, really likes, one or two of her detectives might have become like that. Of course, reading doe sthat, too, you enjoy a character like the Peanuts gang or Dennis the menace enough, then I think it's only natural to have adventures with them in your mind when you're young."

"What about now, though; you're what, almost 50?"

"Close. I think as you get older, it helps you to keep that." Joey explained his thoughts on fan fiction. "You see, a good writer, whether it's his own stories, or something like fan fiction, I think when you've got writer's block, that can help. I always told Steph, thik about what something's thinking, not just the people. That's why she was able to write such a great piece about the cafeteria's meatloaf for the school paper, from the meat loaf's point of view, in seventh grade."

"That's clever."

"And, I don't know how you are, but my family and I, none of us can stand some of the fan fiction people put out. See, if I'm a writer, say I'm going to write Popeye, for instance. I would talk to him, ask him what he thinks should happen in the plot I've hatched, what he would do. If I keep that in my mind, as an imaginary friend, I'll be able to make him more like himself, and I'll know being a kids' cartoon he's going to do certain things. Some writers, when an idea that's extra graphic comes to them, they need a voice going," he said, changing to his Popeye voice, "'You do that to me characters and I'll shove that laptop down your throat.'" He finished with his signature Popeye laugh. "And stuff that's not clean or family friendly, I don't like, because I've come to realize I don't' want those characters in my mind. I want my imagination to be totally family friendly."

After the show was over, they met for a late dinner. "Hey, thanks, man, you even mentioned Nicky and Alex's state championship in football," Jesse said.

"Yeah, I tried. We've really had some great times together."

"Now come on, Joey," Becky said. "Do you really want to give it up, like you talked about?"

Joey admitted comedy was a big part of him. "Slow down, yes, but probably not give it up entirely. No more trips to comedy clubs around the country, anyway. But, you know, there is something fun about being on stage." He looked lovingly at all of them, so happy to be surrounded by such wonderful real people as well. "But, what's the most important is making those I love feel good and happy right here."


End file.
